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Chinese green group criticizes Apple over supplier conduct

Apple's suppliers haven't had the best reputation when it comes to …

Apple isn't as transparent as it could be when it comes to the effects its suppliers have on the environment and worker safety, according to a Chinese environmental group. The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) published a report (Chinese-language PDF) on Thursday ranking Apple and 28 other companies when it comes to taking responsibility for supplier conduct, with Apple coming in dead last on the list.

Apple "only care[s] about the price and quality and not the environmental and social responsibility issues. In some ways they drive the suppliers to cut corners to win their contracts," IPE spokesperson Ma Jun told Reuters. "We've found that Apple isn't honoring its commitment in ensuring its supply chain's work safety and environmental responsibility and giving dignity and respect to the workers."

Apple has been linked with a recent string of suicides at gadget supplier Foxconn, not to mention Foxconn's dodgy record when it comes to worker pay, safety issues, and "violent training." Foxconn reportedly gave a 30 percent pay raise to its staff in an attempt to raise morale, but a leaked report in October of 2010 revealed that the supplier was still doing its best to keep costs as low as possible and its employees in line.

That's not the first time Apple has been criticized for its supplier actions, either. Apple has been dealing with Foxconn's reputation since at least 2006, when the firsthighly critical report about Foxconn's factory conditions was published. Apple has since audited its suppliers regularly and posted the results on a Supplier Responsibility page on the company's website, but that hasn't stopped various groups from accusing Apple of not doing enough to ensure that factory conditions are safe and workers are treated well.

It's not just Foxconn that the latest IPE report focuses on, though. As noted by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, IPE highlighted an incident from 2009 when workers at Wintek were allegedly hospitalized for nerve damage after working with toxic chemicals used in Apple's touchscreens. Apple won't publicly acknowledge that Wintek is one of its suppliers, however, which is part of the reason IPE feels Apple could be more transparent about its supplier relationships.

To go along with its latest report, IPE has a (very slow-loading) video titled "The Other Side of Apple" posted on its website.

American environmental group Greenpeace has been on Apple's case for many years as well, but it has traditionally focused more on the chemicals and pollutants in Apple's products than the actions of Apple's suppliers. Last year, however, Greenpeace began warming up to Apple—the group even gave the company four gold stars for its efforts to rid its products of brominated flame retardants (BFR) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui